Kutztown: Firefighters call on state for help with I-78 crash responses

Source: WFMZ-TV Channel 69

Published:
01/10/2019 08:09 PM

A major accident on I-78 is still fresh in the mind of Hamburg's deputy fire chief, Jarrod Emes.
"We realized the extent of what we had very early in the incident," Deputy Chief Jarrod Emes, with the Hamburg Fire Company, said.
"That accident was actually deployed in two different townships in the interstate. Duplicate calls," Emes recalled. "With that being said it becomes very taxing on emergency services."
That deadly crash in mid-November of last year closed a big stretch of 78 in Berks and Lehigh counties and had crews on scene for nearly 15 hours.
"We had resource requests made out of Berks, Lehigh, Schuylkill, Lebanon and even Montgomery counties," Emes said.
Emes says a lot of resources were spent directing traffic, instead of focusing on emergency response. And he's not alone, as firefighters from Virginville, Kutztown and other areas, say they're on the same problem-filled page.

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